Court drama Shock end to Baldwin trial fit for Hollywood

When Alec Baldwin set out to make the western Rust in 2021, it was a passion project for the veteran actor.

- Dani Anguiano

He co-created the story, served as a producer and starred as the film's lead Harland Rust, an outlaw with a bounty on his head.

Nearly three years on, the 66-yearold had assumed the role of criminal defendant, standing trial in New Mexico for involuntary manslaughter in the death of the cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal on the film's set.

As Baldwin entered a Santa Fe courtroom last Wednesday, the day the trial began, he was staring down the prospect of 18 months in prison. By the week's end, in a dramatic twist fit for a Hollywood drama, he was walking out a free man after a judge found the prosecution and law enforcement had intentionally withheld evidence in the case that could have been favourable to the actor.

The prosecution's case fell apart in a matter of hours last Friday. A witness testified that Kari Morrissey, a special prosecutor leading the state's case against Baldwin, was directly involved in a decision to keep potentially crucial evidence separate from the Rust case.

Another special prosecutor resigned in the middle of the day, and Morrissey called herself to the stand as a witness.